I have memories of discussing an upcoming menu with a chef in San Francisco when I initially started my profession as a cook and he was considering utilizing polenta as a side dish. I enquired as to whether he was referring to Poland. He claimed he was unaware of Poland. I informed my mother over the phone that we would be serving polenta at the restaurant. If she had ever heard of it, I questioned her. They were the same things, she replied while laughing. She said that the term “pol-an-da” simply referred to how our family had spoken the word polenta. I must say that I felt rather humiliated!
| Prep Time: | 10 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons butter, divided
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 ½ cups fresh corn kernels, divided
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 clove garlic, pressed
- 2 ½ cups water, divided
- ½ cup polenta
Instructions
- Melt 1 teaspoon butter and olive oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir 2/3 of the corn, with a pinch of salt and a pinch of cayenne pepper in the hot butter and oil until the corn is fragrant and golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Pour 2 cups water into corn mixture; bring to a simmer and whisk polenta into mixture. Bring to a simmer again, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thick and polenta absorbs the water, 20 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup water and stir; cook for until water is completely absorbed, about 10 minutes more.
- Stir remaining corn and 1 teaspoon butter into polenta mixture. Remove from heat, cover the pot, and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 166 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 27 g |
| Cholesterol | 7 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 211 mg |
| Sugars | 3 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Delicious !!
Delicious. Used 1 cup of cornmeal. I used beef stock instead of water (since I’m serving it with beef au jus) also used a whole can of corn – did not have fresh. Made it earlier so It can harden And I’ll air fry it for dinner. Air fried 2 pieces to try (did not add any evoo or butter) and it came out so good.
This is definitely a keeper! Even my husband, who thought he didn’t like Polenta, loved it. I made it exactly as Chef John stated and it was absolutely delicious. Thanks Chef John for another winner!
Made this today to serve with Chef John’s Pork ala Latte. Used fresh corn that I had previously frozen. Did not have polenta so used cornmeal added more salt and cayenne.
Easy to make breakfast treat, especially since I had decided I wanted corn meal mush (another name besides polenda and polenta!) for breakfast! Frozen corn works instead of fresh in this dish. I garnished this with hot pepper and red onion rings. Great taste! I’ll be making this again.